Alabama wide receiver Cam Sims has a torn anterior cruciate ligament, UA coach Nick Saban confirmed Monday night.

"Cam Sims was injured on Saturday and has got an ACL (tear)," Saban said. "He’s going to be out for a while and definitely needs surgery."

On Sunday, a number of media outlets reported that Sims, a rising sophomore, had sustained the injury during the team’s Saturday practice. The injury did not appear to occur during the media’s brief viewing periods of the workout.

Sims hinted on Twitter about a potential ACL injury as early as Saturday night following the team’s practice. On Sunday, he retweeted and followed @ACLrecoveryCLUB.

ACL tweet Cam Sims
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Saban didn't specify how long Sims is expected to be out, though it is likely he will miss the remainder of spring practice. Last season, cornerback Eddie Jackson tore his ACL during a spring scrimmage in April and returned on Aug. 1, the team’s first day of fall camp.

"It will be a lot of hard work for him to get back at all for next season, but we’re hopeful and we know what kind of person he is and he’ll work hard to do it," Saban said.

The 6-foot-4, 208-pound Sims still figures prominently in helping fill the void left by last season’s since-departed starting wideout trio of Amari Cooper, DeAndrew White and Christion Jones. As a freshman, Sims caught seven passes for 62 yards and one touchdown and was the most frequently targeted wide receiver in SEC play (7) on the team among returning players.

His first career catch – a 15-yard first-down reception – helped set up the Tide’s go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter of a 14-13 win at Arkansas last October.

Sims, a Monroe, Louisiana native, was a unanimous four-star prospect in the class of 2014.

“I was definitely bummed out for him, but football is a game of collisions, so those kinds of things happen,” running back Kenyan Drake said. “He was definitely in high spirits and looking forward to the season. He has an injury similar to Eddie Jackson, who was back playing in the season. So he's looking forward to it.”

Drake, a rising senior, also had some encouraging words for Sims. Drake’s season came to an abrupt end in 2014 when he broke his leg at Ole Miss in October.

“He has to be patient and understand the injury will heal itself,” Drake said. “But he's got to put in the work to get back.”

Without Sims, Alabama still has a plethora of options at wide receiver, but the overall experience at the position is limited. After junior Chris Black, no returning receiver has more than 12 career catches.

Calvin Ridley, the nation’s top-rated wideout in the 2015 class, and Daylon Charlot, a four-star receiver rated as high as No. 8 at his position by ESPN, will join the Crimson Tide’s promising yet unproven receiver corps this summer.

“Cam has done a really nice job all year long,” Saban said last November. “We’ve got lots of confidence in him as a receiver. … He makes a lot of catches in practice, he’s a big guy, he’s a little bit of a mismatch guy that way. He is physical and he is tough. He does a good job of blocking, but that’s not why we put him in the game.”

Former Alabama wide receiver Kenny Bell, who grew up close to Sims in nearby Rayville, Louisiana, also wished Sims well in his recovery on Saturday.

 

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